Waldorf celebrates opening of all-accessible playground

After months of planning and collecting donations, the new playground on the east side of town Waldorf near the city baseball field is complete; the town celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony the evening of Thursday, Aug. 20.

 

Waldorf local and playground regular Caitlin Schule brought her son Krew, 4, to the big event. She commented, “He grew up playing at the old park in the blue swing. He’s gotten bigger since then and now, he’s got a new park to grow up in.” Krew certainly didn’t run out of kids to play with, he was surrounded. Equipment for their fun includes a new springy fire truck, a merry-go-round, five new slides, obstacle courses, teeter totters, a big fiberglass log to climb through, a jungle gym, an oversized tic-tac-toe game, ropes to swing on and just about anything else a child could think of.

 

Missy Sorbo, councilwoman and member of the park board which organized the new equipment, said, “We finished Monday morning, Aug. 17. We brought in 161 cubic yards of engineered wood chips.” She looked up at gathering rainclouds and predicted, “Even with the rain I think we’ll get our ribbon cut today and the kids can play.” She was right, after a sprinkle or two the sun came out and dried everything off in time. Jamie Beckstrand, another council person who attended said, “T and T Tiling removed the old equipment, Ron Fischer had a hand in that.” Beckstrand was also responsible for the giant scissors used to cut the ribbon.

  

Waseca County Sheriff Jay Dulas was also present, attempting to hand a sticker to councilman Cody Schnepf’s daughter, who couldn’t get her face out of her father’s back long enough to take the sticker, so shy was she.

 

Sorbo has walked a long road to bring the park to this milestone. She has worked with community members to organize fundraising events for the past year while also keeping the council informed of the proceedings. She and other committee members selected the playground equipment to be installed. She noted, however, that the work continues: “So far we’ve raised $69,014 out of $123,000 needed to pay this off.” The committee continues to watch for grants available from government and private agencies to cover all-accessible upgrades. During Waldorf Days there will be plenty of places to give free will donations as well.

 

Mayor Rob Wilkening was present during the ribbon cutting and said, “I think this is just the start of getting more families into this town. Waldorf is growing right now at a rate of 21 percent since 2020 and I, for one, want to see that continue. If we keep on with initiatives like this, I see conditions here only improving.” When those in attendance asked about the degrading condition of the ballfield, he replied, “We just can’t find the funding to fix that up right now, I would love to, but we can’t.” When asked, he estimated it had been nearly two decades since the Waldorf Wood Ducks had been able to play on their home field.